A classmate of William T. Riker at Starfleet Academy in the 2350s, Rice developed a reputation of being confident nearly to the point of being arrogant, and willing to take risks. In one of the final examinations in an advanced navigation course, one of the questions gave the students three possible answers. Rice rejected the three existing answers, and proposed his own answer. The risk paid off as Rice received the highest score for the exam, and the exam was modified to include Rice's answer as one of the possible options.

Later in 2364, the Drake went to Minos to discover what had happened to the population of the planet. Shortly afterwards, the Drake was destroyed with all hands by the automated weapons which had destroyed the people of Minos. During the battle, the weapon systems learned enough about Starfleet, Rice and the Drake to construct a holographic recreation of Rice, which was used in an attempt to fool Riker when the Enterprise arrived to determine the fate of the Drake. Riker recognized this facsimile was not his friend from it's appearance and behavior. When asked the name of his vessel and its weapons complement, Riker answered "the Lollipop" and "ten". (TNGepisode: "The Arsenal of Freedom")